104 Email Marketing Statistics You Should Know In 2021

Outline:

• Is email marketing overrated?
• Importance of email marketing in 2021
• Email frequency and timing
• Email sending automation
• Segmentation and personalization
• Subject line, email body, and sign-off
• Visual content in email campaigns
• Desktop and mobile optimization

Many of the marketing guides and articles you see every day are based on nothing but the author’s subjective opinion.

So how do you separate facts from opinions? That’s right, numbers.

Numbers speak louder than words, and email marketing stats speak even louder. That’s why we at Snov.io have collected the most useful and striking email marketing statistics you should know about in 2021.

Is email marketing overrated?

Email is being questioned as a marketing channel every year. And yet the numbers show that it is stronger than ever.

• In 2018, an average of 293.6 billion emails were sent and received per day. 
• 89% of marketers use email as the primary channel for generating leads.
• The average click-through rate was 3.43%.
• The average unsubscribe rate for 2019 was 0.2%.
• The spam rate average in 2019 was 0.02%.
• In 2019, the average open rate was 22,15%.
• Meanwhile, the average click-to-open rate was 15.49%.
• 86% of professionals give priority to email connection.
• In Europe, North America, and APAC, email marketing is the most widely used technology for customer engagement – 77.6% (compared to 62% produced by content management and 61% shown by social media).
• 47% of marketers rate email marketing as the most effective marketing channel (39% for social media, 33% for SEO, and 33% for content marketing).
• 93% of B2B marketers use email channel for distributing content.
• 72% of customers prefer email as their main channel for business communication.
• 52% of responders said that email is their main communication tool.

Importance of email marketing in 2021

So why is email marketing so popular? Because it has an incredible ROI, can be used for multiple purposes, and it converts! The stats below prove it:

• 21% of sent emails are opened within the first hour of delivery.
• Email marketing boasts a 4200% ROI ($42 for every $1 spent).
• 59% of B2B marketers prefer email for lead generation.
• Email is 40% better at converting (in comparison to Facebook and Twitter).
• 40% of B2B marketers claim that email newsletters are the most important tactic in their content marketing strategy.
• 37% of respondents name email as the most effective channel for customer loyalty and retention, while websites were named by 13% and social media by only 11%.
• Marketing and advertising emails influence the buying decision of 50.7% of customers.
• Email marketing is mostly used for lead generation (85%), sales (84%), lead nurturing (78%), and customer retention (74%).

Email frequency and timing

When it comes to converting, one needs to know the best time to send email. And email marketing statistics have a thing or two to say about the perfect email frequency and sending time.

• 61% of subscribers/customers would like to receive promotional emails every week, 38% – more frequently.
• Marketers get in touch with their clients (per month): 2-3 times (32%), 4-6 times (19%), once (17%), 6+ times (16%).
• 28% of subscribers state they’d like to see promo offers twice or even thrice a week.
• 18% of emails are sent on Thursdays, 17% on Tuesdays, 16% on Wednesdays.
• The worst open and click-through rates are on weekends.
• 11AM is the best time for sending emails, 12AM shows the highest CTR.
• Traffic peak is in autumn and winter (especially on Black Friday, Cyber Monday and December 23).
• 50% of marketers claim that there is no perfect time for sending email campaigns as every person and business is unique.
• The best days for emails are Tuesday and Thursday.

Email sending automation

If you didn’t use email marketing automation in 2019, do yourself a favor and listen to these email marketing statistics in 2021. Why? Because it will save you time, money, and, once again, convert more.

• On average, 51% of companies are currently using automation. 
• 64% of B2B respondents say that they use email automation techniques.
• The biggest marketing automation benefits are:
  – saving time (30%)
  – lead generation (22%)
  – higher revenue (17%)
  – customer retention (11%)
  – monitoring marketing campaigns (8%)
  – shortening the sales cycle (2%)
• 47% of marketers are sure that automation is worth the price. 
• 68.5% of responders believe that automation improved the targeting of messages.
• Triggered emails result in 8 times more opens and greater earnings than typical bulk emails.
• The average unsubscribe and spam rates of triggered emails are 0.58% and 0.06% respectively.
• The best tactics for automation are mapping the customer experience (53%) and use of personalized messages (51%).
• Automation tools are used for sending all types of emails:
  – welcome emails (47%)
  – promotional sales emails (46%)
  – transactional emails (28%)
  – invitations and reminders (27%)
  – blog updates (26%)
  – upselling emails (23%)
  – event-triggered emails based on customer lifecycle (15%), etc.
• Average open rate of triggered email campaigns is 46%, CTR – 11%, and click-to-open rate – 24%.

Segmentation and personalization

Nothing can improve your emailing stats quite like personalization. Always segment your lists and personalize your emails – always make your client feel special.

• Email list segmentation and personalization were the most effective email strategies in 2017.
• Segmented email campaigns show 50% higher CTR than untargeted campaigns.
• The top 3 reasons for using personalization in email marketing are improved open rate (82%), higher CTR (75%), and better customer satisfaction (58%).

• Top 3 email marketing tactics are: list segmentation (51%), personalization (50%), and triggered emails (45%).
• During a SuperOffice email marketing experiment, a segmented email campaign earned a 94% open rate and a 38% CTR, versus 42% open rate and 4.5% CTR in a non-segmented email campaign.
• Marketers who send segmented campaigns notice a 760% increase in revenue.
• 88% of users agree they are more likely to respond to an email favorably if it looks like it’s been specifically created for them.
• 62% of emails are opened thanks to a personalized subject line.
• By addressing the recipient by their name, you can increase open rates and CTR up to 35%.
• 10% of respondents are annoyed by too little or no personalization.
• According to the respondents, the most frustrating things about personalization are: recommending items that don’t match their interests (34%), expired offers (24%), name misspelling (15%), inappropriate season or location offer (14%), already purchased promotions (13%).
• Only 4% of marketers use highly-personalized targeting, 13% use segmentation for different audiences, 31% claim that they use basic segmentation (2-5 criteria), and 53% do not target at all.
• 58% of revenue is generated thanks to segmented and personalized emails.
• 62% of marketers say that personalization is the most effective technique.
• Segmented email campaigns open rates increased by 39%; revenue, deliverability, and sales leads all increased by 24%, transactions – 18%.

Subject line, email body, and sign-offs

Writing a perfect email, subject line, and sign-off is what will define whether the recipient converts. Use these critical email statistics to find your perfect formula.

• 47% of people open the emails based on the subject line and 69% of customers can report emails as spam based on the subject line only.
• In one study, emails without subject lines were so intriguing they yielded an 8% higher open rate.
• Welcome emails bring 320% more revenue per email than other promo emails.
• Open rate by the number of words in the subject line:
  – 6-10 words (21%),
  – 0-5 words (16%)
  – 11-15 words (14%)
  – 16-20 words (12%)
• Emails with “fw:” in the subject line are 17% less likely to be opened.
• Emails containing personalization in the subject line are 22% more likely to be opened.
• The email subject line most often contains:
  – the customer’s name (46.21%)
  – the product name/details (44.01%)
  – the company name (42.88%).
  At the same time, these three variables in the email subject line show the highest conversion rate (3.71%, 3.18%, and 3.58% respectively).
• Emails with active discount codes have an 8 times higher chance to make a sale than those without any discounts.
• An average marketing email consists of 434.48 words and it takes 3.3 minutes to read.
• Most (19% of subscribers) respond to the messages of 200-250 words, 17% to those under 50 words, 15% – to 150-200 words long email.
• iPhone cuts off the subject lines over 32 characters.
• 52% of managers add signatures into their emails.
• Emails with signatures with a photo receive 32% more replies than emails without it.
• 7 lines is the perfect size for an email signature (75% of senders include contact info, 60% add a phone number, less attach Twitter (7%), Facebook (3%), or LinkedIn (2%).
• 17% of adults are using a formal style for email communication, 33% prefer informal style, 49% say it depends. 
• The most popular sign-offs are:
  – Thanks (62%),
  – name or initials (46%)
  – Sincerely (44%)
  – Love (28%)
  – Regards (22%)
  *respondents were allowed to choose multiple answers.
• “Thanks” is the least annoying sign-off (only 3% dislike it), while 21% dislike “Peace”.
• 40% of people asked would like the emails they receive to be more informative than promotional.

Visual content in email campaigns

Emails don’t have to be text only. Spice up your campaign by using additional visual content. After all, 45% of recipients say that they “like brands that do not take themselves too seriously”, so don’t be afraid to break out of the old standards. Check out these email marketing statistics and consider using emojis, videos, and pics in your next email campaign.

Emojis

Emojis in email is one of the most dividing things among email marketers. Some say that emails with emojis are more effective, while others claim that email statistics prove the opposite. However, it’s not all that simple.

• 68% of millennials use and like seeing emojis, GIFs and stickers in their emails; only 37% of respondents over 65 agreed with this.
• Emails with an emoji in the subject line show a 56% higher open rate.
• Women react to emojis more positively than men.
• 76% of those surveyed have at least once added emojis in their business emails.
• Using appropriate emojis in holiday campaigns can reduce the complaint rate to 0%.

  

Videos

What happens when you embed video in an email? This collection of email marketing statistics will show you exactly what and prove that videos can be just the move for your next email marketing campaign.

• An initial email with a video receives a CTR increase of 96%.
• 81% of marketers use video as a marketing tool.
• 78% of marketers using video say that it increases ROI.
• Attaching a video in an email can lead to a 200-300% increase in CTR.
• Using the word “video” increases open rates by 19%, CTR by 65%, and cuts the number of unsubscribes by 26%.
• 54% of email subscribers prefer emails with videos.
• People mostly watch videos on a desktop (84%) while only 14% watch it on mobile devices.
• 90% of users say that videos help them make a purchase decision.

Pics

Email content matters. But the email’s appearance can sometimes matter even more. The email marketing stats below show that pictures are as relevant for email marketing in 2021 as before.

• Two-thirds of surveyed people claim that they prefer emails consisting mostly of images.
• Emails that include some sort of graphics have a higher open rate (27%) and CTR (4.5%) than that of text-based emails (20% and 3%).
• 74% of users delete the message if it doesn’t open within 5 seconds (which is most likely to happen because of the size of the pictures in the email).
• 43% of recipients read the emails without turning the images on.
• Research shows that it’s best to keep the text to image ratio in emails at 4:1.

Desktop and mobile optimization

Many marketers still underestimate the importance of mobile optimization. These email marketing stats confirm that mobile optimization is vital to the success of your email marketing campaign.

• 81% check their email on smartphones, 74% on desktop/laptop, 21% on tablet, 2% on a smartwatch.
• 88% of smartphones users check their Inbox on their phones.
• Nearly 1 in 5 email campaigns wasn’t optimized for mobile devices.
• 42.3% of email recipients delete messages if they are not optimized for mobiles, 32.2% read the email later on desktop.
• In 70% of cases, if the message doesn’t display correctly, it’s likely to be deleted within 3 seconds.
• 52% of B2C brands’ emails and websites aren’t both mobile-friendly.
• 57% of users say they won’t recommend a poorly designed mobile site.
• In June 2018, 46% of emails were opened on smartphones, while desktop was used only by 18%.
• 88% of smartphone users regularly check emails on their mobile devices.
• ⅓ of professionals use their mobile devices to check their emails.
• The two most popular email clients are Apple iPhone and Gmail (34% and 26% of opens respectively).
• 75% of Gmail users are using their mobile devices to access their email.
• A mobile offer is 10 times more likely to be used than the same one in print form.

Were our email marketing stats fascinating? Hope so.
Were the numbers useful? Definitely.
Will they be helpful in 2021? Absolutely.
Save the article to your bookmarks to have it at hand in 2021!

Good luck.